Jarrell Makes Big Improvements

SOUTHWEST SPORTS

South Lake's Star Tight End/defensive End Is Gaining Attention From Major Colleges.

August 22, 2004|By Jeff Berlinicke, Special to the Sentinel

Three years ago, Beau Jarrell entered South Lake High School with a small problem.

The problem was, he was too small.

A defensive end/tight end who weighed just 190 pounds? That wasn't going to work. So Jarrell hit the weight room hard. After three years of almost daily 2 1/2-hour workout sessions, Jarrell weighs 235 and is all over the recruiting charts for schools interested him on both sides of the ball.

"Beau is just a great all-around football player,'' South Lake Coach Charles Weems said. "He's always around the football. No one works harder than Beau."

Jarrell said he enjoys defense a little more than offense, but his teammates call him, "Little Shockey," after New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey. It's a nickname he doesn't mind at all.

"I like playing defensive end because I like it when it gets rough," Jarrell said. "I also like to catch the ball and take the game into my own hands. I don't mind being a blocking tight end as long as I get a chance to catch the ball."

Jarrell should have plenty of chances to catch the ball this season. South Lake is a young team that is looking to top last season's 5-5 finish, but quarterback Shan Fairbanks returns and that's a pretty strong weapon in itself. Fairbanks is being recruited by several colleges and has played with Jarrell since third grade.

The two will be expected to connect a lot this season. South Lake was district runner-up last season, even with the 5-5 record, but was knocked out of the first round of the state playoffs. It's been four years since South Lake has made it past the first round, and Jarrell said the team is getting impatient.

"We've all worked really hard during the offseason," said Jarrell, whose father, also named Beau, played in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "We're making more time to do what we need to do to get past the first round. We expect to at least get past the first round this year."

Weems is hesitant on making any predictions, but he sees promise for this team along with Jarrell's future.

"We made the playoffs, but that's because we won all the right games," Weems said. "This might be the youngest team I've had, with just six seniors. But these guys work hard. For Beau to go from 190 to 235 in just three years, that says something."

For Jarrell, the mailbox has been filled with letters from prospective colleges; Florida State and UCF are at the top of his list. Jarrell said the Seminoles are his favorite at the moment.

He added that he'd prefer to play tight end, and that's the position that probably best suits his body. Being 6 feet 2, 235 pounds might be big enough in high school, but he might be as much as 30 pounds away from being able to line up on defense in Division I-A.

Whatever position, Jarrell said he sees himself following in his father's footsteps to the NFL one day.

"I see myself in the NFL," Jarrell said. "I need to work harder on my strength and just getting bigger, so I spend so much of my time in the weight room. I have to get it into gear."